Drop in supplies lifts crude

People line up to fill gas containers at the New Jersey Turnpike's Thomas A. Edison service area Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, near Woodbridge, N.J. The price of oil is rising as operations at refineries and supply terminals in the Northeast remain restricted three days after Superstorm Sandy. Benchmark oil gained 60 cents Thursday to $86.84 per barrel in New York. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Photo: Mel Evans, STF

Oil rose Thursday to a one-week high after the Energy Department reported that crude supplies unexpectedly declined and as stock markets gained on increasing optimism that U.S. economic growth is accelerating.

Futures climbed 1 percent after crude supplies fell 2.05 million barrels to 373.1 million last week. A gain of 1.8 million was the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Crude oil for December delivery rose 85 cents to $87.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are down 12 percent this year.

Operations at refineries and supply terminals in the Northeast remain restricted three days after Hurricane Sandy. Service stations in many cities have closed because they can't get gasoline delivered or lack the power to pump it out of their tanks. That's left motorists to search for stations that are open and wait in long lines.